Helium is the second most abundant element in the entire Universe, but we are running out of helium here on Earth. That's a bad thing.
Even if auctioning eventually solves the pricing problem, it will never change the fact that helium is not a renewable resource. The National Reserve is expected to be depleted by 2020, and even if it isn't, under the current law it will have to shut down operations in 2021. In the meantime, the world is scrambling to find alternative coolants, levitators, and sources of helium.
"By the end of the decade," USGS writes in its 2015 report on helium, "international helium extraction facilities are likely to become the main source of supply for world helium users. Expansions to facilities have been completed as planned in Algeria and Qatar." China also plans on mining helium-3, which is currently mostly manufactured, off the moon.
Chinese robot helium miners on the Moon – yes, please!
